Irrigation Specialist at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-UN)

The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO-UN) - An intergovernmental organization, FAO has 194 Member Nations, two associate members and one member organization, the European Union. Its employees come from various cultural backgrounds and are experts in the multiple fields of activity FAO engages in. FAO’s staff capacity allows it to support improved governance inter alia, generate, develop and adapt existing tools and guidelines and provide targeted governance support as a resource to country and regional level FAO offices. Headquartered in Rome, Italy, FAO is present in over 130 countries.

We are recruiting to fill the position below:

Job Title: Irrigation Specialist

Post Number: 180875
Location: Maiduguri, Borno
Organizational Unit: FRNIR
Type of Requisition: NPP (National Project Personnel)
Duration: Eleven months

Organizational Setting

• The crisis in Nigeria, located mainly around the Lake Chad Basin, is a complex emergency characterized by food insecurity, violence and displacement. Furthermore, subsistence based livelihoods are impacted upon by climate-induced desertification, drought, receding lake/water stress. The FAO Lake Chad Strategy 2017-2019 includes ensuring sustainable and equitable access to resources and services as well as sustainable growth of livelihood opportunities are therefore critical priorities.
• FAO in collaboration with UNWOMEN and WFP has received support from the European Development Fund (EDF) under the EU Support to Response, Recovery and Resilience in Borno State, to implement a 3-year programme to restore and improve sustainable agriculture-based livelihoods for food security, employment, and nutrition improvement in Borno State. FAO’s interventions include supporting small scale irrigation development to have improve market opportunities and enterprise development through the support to dry season farming.

Reporting Lines

• The Irrigation Specialist reports to the FAO Representative (FAOR) through the Deputy FAOR in Maiduguri and the project coordinator.

Technical Focus

• For effective field management of project implementation, FAO requires the services of an irrigation expert. In particular, he/she will be responsible for ensuring the technical soundness and timeliness of activities in his field of competencies in the design, planning, supervision of the implementation and monitoring phases of small-scale irrigation development and related activities of the project.

Tasks and Responsibilities

• Under the overall supervision and guidance of the FAO Representative in Nigeria through the Deputy FAOR in Maiduguri, and with direct supervision of the Project Coordinator in close collaboration with national and international consultants in the project team, the incumbent will undertake the following activities:
• Provide technical, programmatic and operational support for the implementation of the irrigation component of the project
• Contribute to needs assessments and analysis in selected LGAs for the development of small scale irrigation scheme
• Contribute to the selection of the sites, the selection of the beneficiaries, their capacity building and their organization in cluster or network or water users association
• Provide effective technical support to beneficiaries engaged in small-scale irrigation farming.
• Contribute to the analysis and provision of solution for effective community participatory land use
• Support the adoption of good agriculture and irrigation practices ;
• Contribute to the preparation of the technical specifications of equipment for small scale irrigation development and letter of agreement with implementing partners
• Prepare case studies, guidelines, reports, publications and presentations in support of programme delivery.
• Perform any other related duties as required.

Candidates Will Be Assessed Against The Following
Minimum Requirements:

• University Degree or equivalent in Irrigation Engineering, Civil Engineering with a specialization in irrigation
• 6-10 years of relevant working experience with University Degree or 3-4 years relevant working experience with Advanced University Degree.
• Working knowledge of English
• Being a National of Nigeria

FAO Core Competencies:

• Results Focus
• Teamwork
• Communication
• Building Effective Relationships
• Knowledge Sharing and Continuous Improvement

Technical/Functional Skills:

• Excellent interpersonal skills and Team spirit
• Experience of projects involving multiple and diverse stakeholders including
• Governments, private sector, civil society and end users.
• Working knowledge of the local language in Borno State.
• Adequate competence in communication, planning and reporting in English and mother language
• Knowledge of computer skills (MS Office package: word, excel and power point).
• Experience with similar internationally funded development projects will be an added advantage
• Experience and competences in working with women and youths groups will be an advantage.

Additional Information:

• FAO does not charge a fee at any stage of the recruitment process (application, interview, processing).
• Please note that FAO will only consider academic credentials or degrees obtained from an educational institution recognized in the IAU/UNESCO list.
• Only language proficiency certificates from UN accredited external providers and/or FAO language official examinations (LPE, ILE, LRT) will be accepted as proof of the level of knowledge of languages indicated in the online applications.
• Candidates with acceptable language certificate/s should upload them when submitting their application. For details, visit: http://www.fao.org/3/I8446EN/i8446en.pdf

Application Closing Date
23:59 Central European Time (CET), 29th August, 2018.

Method of Application
Interested and qualified candidates will be required to forward their applications which should include copies of all academic and professional certificates via the "iRecruitment System" and a Letter of Motivation sent to: FAO-NG@fao.org

Candidates applying for this position are further required to Complete the "FAO Personnel Profile form" via the FAO iRecruitment system: Click Here to Start Application (FAO Form)

Click Here for more Information

Note: Incomplete applications will not be considered. Only applications received through the "Recruitment Portal" will be considered.